Lifestyles of the rich and shameless: Trump edition 2006-2011

In this edition of Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless we take you to the Trump Ocean
Club in sunny Panama City, Panama.

Find out what really made Latin American
drug cartels desperate to throw boatloads of cash into this luxury
Trump-branded resort in its early days. And no it wasn’t the tiny beach,
signature interior design or Ivanka Trump’s personal touch.

The glitzy Panama development provided a much-needed influx of cash at a crucial time for Trump: he had recently emerged from his fifth business bankruptcy and he needed to salvage his reputation as a successful and legitimate businessman. He was able to help solve his financial problems through licensing his name to real estate developments, including the Trump Ocean Club.

Although Trump played no role in selling the units, He appeared at various events to promote the Trump Ocean Club and his corporation managed the residential properties after construction.

Trump may not have deliberately set out to facilitate money laundering in his business dealings at the Trump Ocean Club. But he was happy to take his cut while doing little to prevent it.